Hanaway announces 2004 candidacy

JEFFERSON CITY — Speaker of the House Catherine Hanaway, R-St. Louis County, announced her candidacy Tuesday in the 2004 race for secretary of state elections.

Citing her experience as a securities lawyer in St. Louis and her time in the state legislature, Hanaway pledged that as secretary of state, she would create jobs for all Missourians who want them and restore the integrity of the election process.

“If you don’t have companies, it’s hard to create jobs,” Hanaway said. “I will transmit information back out to business as to what we can do for them as a state and to the legislature about what policies need to be changed to create jobs.”

Hanaway has said she worked to improve the election process as speaker of the house but says she could do more as secretary of state.

Hanaway said she has been eyeing the secretary of state position for more than a decade. She said her decision to run was spurred by term limitations.

“I can only run one more time for the House and I’d be term-limited out in 2006, at which point the office of secretary of state would not be open,” Hanaway said.

Hanaway announced her candidacy after most of the 2004 candidates.

“I wanted to make sure that the House is going to continue to function well and that I would have all the time necessary to focus on my duties as speaker,” she said, explaining her late arrival.

Hanaway said she will not step down as speaker during the campaign. Robin Carnahan, a lawyer and the daughter of former Gov. Mel Carnahan and former Sen. Jean Carnahan, will oppose her on the Democratic ticket. Carnahan has not held office before.

She says she sees the office of secretary of state as one “that demands fairness, accuracy and integrity.”

Former Secretary of State Bekki Cook and former U.S. Sen. Thomas Eagleton have endorsed Carnahan.

Carnahan says she is focusing her campaign on creating jobs by encouraging small business growth, protecting investors from companies like Enron, “who don’t play by the rules,” and updating the voting process with more reliable technology.

“It is important to get the election process right to prevent fraud and make Missourians confident that there will be a fair counting of the votes,” Carnahan said.

Carnahan has worked with countries such as Bosnia and the Ukraine in establishing democratic voting systems in conjunction with the National Democratic Institute.

Carnahan says she learned a lot about government from her parents.

“They taught me that if we have a leader who is willing to work for the people, one person really can make a difference,” she said. “I would like to take my turn to be that person.”